March 21 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Devotional

Saul agreed to Stephen's death sentence. He was eager to wipe out the Christian sect. And he was willing to go to Damascus to get prisoners for the Sanhedrin. In fact, he volunteered for the job.

The Christians fled and prayed, "Lord, save us from the hands of Saul of Tarsus."

Then the living Lord met Saul on the road to Damascus. Saul did not take any prisoners in Damascus. Instead he himself was led into the city as a prisoner of Jesus Christ.

Ananias had to announce the gospel of grace to Saul. By this gospel Saul would be saved and would be able to save many others. The Lord had a program ready for Saul: "I will show him how much he must suffer for my name."

It sounds as if the Lord wants to get even with Saul. Saul has brought suffering to the Christians; from now on, he must suffer for Christ.

If this is our understanding of the Lord's words, we have forgotten that he calls everyone in the same way ("Follow me") and on the same terms ("Take up your cross"). True, he does not have the same program for all of his followers. He made Paul more useful than any of us. Therefore, the load Paul had to carry was bigger than the load most of us carry.

Suffering for Christ is not exceptional, and being useful to Jesus is not reserved for the few. Both suffering and usefulness belong to the ordi­nary Christian lives to which all of us have been called. It is also normal that the load of suffering gets bigger as the extent of service is increased. To the same degree, the joy deepens and the fellowship becomes more intimate when the suffering of Jesus becomes real in the lives of his fol­lowers.

God's programs for us are different, but discipleship is basically the same. For each of us the Lord prescribes more glory and more suffering when we identify with his name.

REFLECTIONS

In what way(s) would you like to be more "useful" to your Lord?

Andrew Kuyvenhoven's Daylight, a modern devotional classic, was originally published by Paideia Press in 1977. This updated edition is copyright 2009 by Faith Alive Christian Resources. You can order a copy of this revised version of the book directly from the publisher.

A man of many accomplishments, Andrew Kuyvenhoven is probably best known for his contributions to Today (formerly The Family Altar), a widely-used monthly devotional booklet associated with the Back to God Hour. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations for this updated edition of Daylight are from the Holy Bible: Today's New International Version copyright 2001, 2005 by the International Bible Society.